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Capitalizing Jerusalem

Mu'awiya's Urban Vision 638-680

Beatrice St. Laurent [+–]

Bridgewater State University

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Isam Awwad [+–]

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Capitalizing Jerusalem addresses a major lacuna in the monumental history of Early Islamic Jerusalem during the period of Mu’awiyah—the first Sufyanid Umayyad caliph (660-680)—who was in the region since the conquest in 637. This period has largely been ignored due to a perceived lack of surviving significant historical and archaeological documentary evidence from the Umayyad period. As a result, the history of Jerusalem relied on Abbasid and later evidence projecting backward to the Marwanid Umayyad period of ‘Abd al-Malik. This version of history was tainted by political bias against the Umayyads and focused on eradicating the memory of Mu’awiya. This volume looks at new archaeological and textual evidence and interpretations to shed light on this period.

Mu’awiya’s political and monumental achievements in the regions of the Early Islamic Conquest testify to strong political agency in the region of Bilad al-Sham, economic success and the means and will to develop the region monumentally. His exercise of political control over and ownership and development of agricultural estates in his homeland region and supporting monument development in his ancestral land of Arabia, demonstrate the imperial power of the new Umayyad dynasty and set the stage for his development of Jerusalem as an imperial capital of the Sufyanids in the Early Ismaic Empire.

In Jerusalem, where he was invested as Amir al-Mu’minin or Commander of the Faithful or Believers in his mosque in 660/661, his monumental development included rebuilding the walls that supported the destroyed Herodian platform, establishing the limits of Islamic Bayt al-Maqdis on the footprint of the Temple Mount; construction and re-construction of the gates of entry to the sacred precinct; building his mosque in the southeast corner, planning and building the Dome of the Rock and the platform on which it sits; and at least initiating construction of the administrative district south of the precinct; and establishing new neighborhoods in that same area for Muslims and returning Jews from Tiberias to the city. His monumental construction in Jerusalem references the monumental language of the former Byzantine Palaestina Prima (capital at Caesarea) and Palaestina Secunda and its capital at Scythopolis, Persian Sasanian controlled areas of Iraq and Iran, and of and pre-Islamic central region of Mecca and Medina in Arabia and further south in Sabeo- Himyaritic Yemen. The result was a magnificent blending of cultural, political and religious traditions as can still be seen today in the Early Islamic monuments of Jerusalem.

Table of Contents

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Capitalizing Jerusalem addresses a major lacuna in the monumental history of Early Islamic Jerusalem during the period of Mu’awiyah—the first Sufyanid Umayyad caliph (660-680)—who was in the region since the conquest in 637. This period has largely been ignored due to a perceived lack of surviving significant historical and archaeological documentary evidence from the Umayyad period. As a result, the history of Jerusalem relied on Abbasid and later evidence projecting backward to the Marwanid Umayyad period of ‘Abd al-Malik. This version of history was tainted by political bias against the Umayyads and focused on eradicating the memory of Mu’awiya. This volume looks at new archaeological and textual evidence and interpretations to shed light on this period. Mu’awiya’s political and monumental achievements in the regions of the Early Islamic Conquest testify to strong political agency in the region of Bilad al-Sham, economic success and the means and will to develop the region monumentally. His exercise of political control over and ownership and development of agricultural estates in his homeland region and supporting monument development in his ancestral land of Arabia, demonstrate the imperial power of the new Umayyad dynasty and set the stage for his development of Jerusalem as an imperial capital of the Sufyanids in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, where he was invested as Amir al-Mu’minin or Commander of the Faithful or Believers in his mosque in 660/661, his monumental development included rebuilding the walls that supported the destroyed Herodian platform, establishing the limits of Islamic Beit al-Maqdis on the footprint of the Temple Mount; construction and re-construction of the gates of entry to the sacred precinct; building his mosque in the southeast corner, planning and building the Dome of the Rock and the platform on which it sits; and at least initiating construction of the administrative district south of the precinct; and establishing new neighborhoods in that same area for Muslims and returning Jews from Tiberias to the city. His monumental construction in Jerusalem references the monumental language of the former Byzantine Palaestina Prima (capital at Caesarea) and Palaestina Secunda and its capital at Scythopolis, Persian Sasanian controlled areas of Iraq and Iran, and of and pre-Islamic central region of Mecca and Medina in Arabia and further south in Sabeo- Himyaritic Yemen. The result was a magnificent blending of cultural, political and religious traditions as can still be seen today in the Early Islamic monuments of Jerusalem.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapter 1 will address the issue of historical revision of the epoch of the Sufyanids and the vision of Mu’awiya in the textual and historical record. This will be explored in the context of the textual revolution primarily fostered by Patricia Crone’s Hagarism (1977) and the subsequent reconsideration and revision of her views in more recent scholarship—that of her student Robert Hoyland and the alternate view of Fred Donner (among others). Thus, Mu’awiya’s history will be re-evaluated within the newly defined parameters of current textual analysis.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapter 2 is a brief biographical chapter on Mu’awiya’s life and achievements in Arabia as scribe of the Prophet, monument builder and landowner prior to his departure for Bilad al-Sham or Greater Syria with the Rashidun caliphal army of Abu Bakr and Umar ibn Khattab between 634 and 638. Jerusalem surrendered in April 637, and Mu’awiya was appointed governor in 639 and was invested as Amir al-Muminin in 661 in Jerusalem remaining based in the region until his death in 680.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapter 3 focuses on clarifying Mu’awiya’s role in the northern region of Bilad al-Sham notably his preliminary role in establishing Damascus as an administrative center, his long-term residency in al-Jabiya. His focus in the north was in his monumental development of the area in the southern area near the Sea of Galilee, notably building the winter palace cum capital of Sinnabra, the first of the qusur or palaces; the refurbishment of the Roman/Byzantine bath of al-Hamma (Hammat Gader), and may have played a role in constructing a mosque to the north in the region of Tabariyya (Tiberias). The sites around the Sea of Galilee have been widely excavated in recent years providing substantial datable findings for these sites. This evidence contributes strongly for substantiating claims in Jerusalem.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapter 4 discusses the Arabic names for Jerusalem and Qur’anic associations with the city in the early Islamic Period. This discussion focuses on demonstrating continuity with the Solomonic/Herodian/Roman past and linkage to Arabia and Islam.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapter 5 focuses on the establishment of the perimeter of the sacred precinct in the 7th century, paralleling the Herodian period precinct. The major gates on all sides were also determined in this period and there are clear architectural indications that there was an arcade on the northern and eastern sides of the precinct.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapter 6 documents Mu’awiya’s mosque and locates it in what was considered Solomon’s Stables (today Marwani Musalla). This mosque is that described by most scholars as the first mosque of Jerusalem and should be dated between 638-660 known to have been the site of his investiture as Amir al-Mu’minin or Commander of the Faithful (Caliph). It was also supposed in previous scholarship that that mosque did not survive. There is today sufficient evidence to corroborate the claim of the mosque’s location in the ‘Stables.’ One major consequence of the mosque’s survival is that it displaces the Dome of the Rock as the oldest surviving Islamic monument.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapters 7-13 focus on a revision of the dating, patronage and history of the Dome of the Rock to attribute the monument’s planning and initiation to Mu’awiya who perhaps left it incomplete at his death in 680. Connections to Byzantium and Yemen are explored as well as Biblical and Qur’anic linkages with the monument. The interpretation further posits that monument links the ahl al-kitab (People of the Book) and ‘others’ to the Dome. The implications are not only religious but political representing ties to a monument type symbolizing the legacy of the pre-Islamic Arab kings as it was passed on to the Umayyads.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapters 7-13 focus on a revision of the dating, patronage and history of the Dome of the Rock to attribute the monument’s planning and initiation to Mu’awiya who perhaps left it incomplete at his death in 680. Connections to Byzantium and Yemen are explored as well as Biblical and Qur’anic linkages with the monument. The interpretation further posits that monument links the ahl al-kitab (People of the Book) and ‘others’ to the Dome. The implications are not only religious but political representing ties to a monument type symbolizing the legacy of the pre-Islamic Arab kings as it was passed on to the Umayyads.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapters 7-13 focus on a revision of the dating, patronage and history of the Dome of the Rock to attribute the monument’s planning and initiation to Mu’awiya who perhaps left it incomplete at his death in 680. Connections to Byzantium and Yemen are explored as well as Biblical and Qur’anic linkages with the monument. The interpretation further posits that monument links the ahl al-kitab (People of the Book) and ‘others’ to the Dome. The implications are not only religious but political representing ties to a monument type symbolizing the legacy of the pre-Islamic Arab kings as it was passed on to the Umayyads.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapters 7-13 focus on a revision of the dating, patronage and history of the Dome of the Rock to attribute the monument’s planning and initiation to Mu’awiya who perhaps left it incomplete at his death in 680. Connections to Byzantium and Yemen are explored as well as Biblical and Qur’anic linkages with the monument. The interpretation further posits that monument links the ahl al-kitab (People of the Book) and ‘others’ to the Dome. The implications are not only religious but political representing ties to a monument type symbolizing the legacy of the pre-Islamic Arab kings as it was passed on to the Umayyads.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapters 7-13 focus on a revision of the dating, patronage and history of the Dome of the Rock to attribute the monument’s planning and initiation to Mu’awiya who perhaps left it incomplete at his death in 680. Connections to Byzantium and Yemen are explored as well as Biblical and Qur’anic linkages with the monument. The interpretation further posits that monument links the ahl al-kitab (People of the Book) and ‘others’ to the Dome. The implications are not only religious but political representing ties to a monument type symbolizing the legacy of the pre-Islamic Arab kings as it was passed on to the Umayyads.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapters 7-13 focus on a revision of the dating, patronage and history of the Dome of the Rock to attribute the monument’s planning and initiation to Mu’awiya who perhaps left it incomplete at his death in 680. Connections to Byzantium and Yemen are explored as well as Biblical and Qur’anic linkages with the monument. The interpretation further posits that monument links the ahl al-kitab (People of the Book) and ‘others’ to the Dome. The implications are not only religious but political representing ties to a monument type symbolizing the legacy of the pre-Islamic Arab kings as it was passed on to the Umayyads.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapters 7-13 focus on a revision of the dating, patronage and history of the Dome of the Rock to attribute the monument’s planning and initiation to Mu’awiya who perhaps left it incomplete at his death in 680. Connections to Byzantium and Yemen are explored as well as Biblical and Qur’anic linkages with the monument. The interpretation further posits that monument links the ahl al-kitab (People of the Book) and ‘others’ to the Dome. The implications are not only religious but political representing ties to a monument type symbolizing the legacy of the pre-Islamic Arab kings as it was passed on to the Umayyads.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapter 14 concentrates on Mu’awiya’s intent to have Jerusalem as a capital of the Umayyads—as well as Damascus, al-Jabiya, Sinnabra. To that purpose he initiated construction of a palatial and administrative district just south of the sacred precinct. His first palace was located just outside of his mosque and the Single Gate allowed him sole access to the mosque. Most scholars have attributed this complex to ‘Abd al-Malik but there is now sufficient datable archaeological evidence from a site north of Jerusalem to propose that at least some of the foundations were from the reign of Mu’awiya. Archaeological evidence from the Ben-Dov/Mazar excavations south of the Haram and from a recent excavation in Palace #2 south of the Haram also suggest a Mu’awiya dating.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapter 15 is a brief chapter including Mu’awiya’s monumental development of South Arabia. This is mainly included to counter the arguments of the 9th and 10th century Abbasid narratives and Hadith that claim that once Mu’awiya left the region of Mecca, that he never returned. Inscriptions in his name and properties owned and maintained directly contradict this assertion.

Beatrice St. Laurent is Professor of Art History at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.

Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem

Isam Awwad is Associate Fellow, W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, and was Chief Architect and Conservator of the Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem, from 1972 to 2004.

Chapter 16 concludes that Mu’awiya’s reign resulted in a unified vision for monumental and urban development in the entirety of Bilad al-Sham. The Umayyads under Mu’awiya united the former Byzantine and Sasanian realms blending those traditions with those of Umayyad origins in Arabia creating a more globalized culture in the 7th century.

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